| Course Syllabi for:
English 50A: Introduction to American Literature I Fall,
2001 Jamieson
Required Textbook:
The American Tradition in Literature, Vol. 1, Ninth Edition. Perkins
and Perkins, Editors. McGraw Hill.
Learning Objectives:
*To familiarize students with some significant and culturally diverse
examples, both canonical and non-canonical, of American Literature
written between the 17th and the mid 19th centuries.
*To introduce students to some of the major literary genres and
modes employed by writers of the period.
*To provide students with the opportunity to examine some
recurring themes in the literature of the period.
*To help students understand the relevance of the literature of
past periods to our modern world.
*To give students practice in analyzing, discussing, and writing
about the literature.
Writing assignments will be both formal and informal, in-class and
out of class. Some required writing will take the form of examinations.
Course Method and Requirements:
Method: Lecture—discussion.
A Mid-term and a Final Examination.
A 12 page Term Paper (see separate sheet of instructions).
Grading system:
Mid—term examination: 30%
Final examination: 40%
Term paper: 30%
Reading Schedule
Weeks:
(1)
Introductory remarks, overview of course; reading and analyses of
assigned texts.
William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, chapters IX and X.
Anne Bradstrect, the poetry selections in the text.
Edward Taylor, the poetry selections in the text.
(2)
Taylor continued.
Jonathan Edwards, "Personal Narrative" and "Sinners
in the Hands of an Angry God."
John Wolman, from The Journal of John Wolman.
(3)
Benjamin Franklin, selections from The Autobiography,
Thomas Paine, selections from The A e of Reason.
4)
Philip Freneau, "The Wild Honey Suckle" and "On the
Universality and Other Attributes of the God of Nature."
William Cullen Bryant, "Thanatopsis" and "To a Waterfowl."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "A Psalm of Life," "The
Skeleton in Armor," "The Jewish Cemetery at Newport,"
"My Lost Youth," "Divina Commedia," "Chaucer,"
"Milton," and "The Cross of Snow."
John Greenleaf Whittier, "Massachusetts to Virginia,"
"Ichabod."
Oliver Wendell Holmes, "Old Ironsides" and "The Chambered
Nautilus."
J~me5 Russell Lowell, "A Fable for Critics."
(5)
Ralph Waldo Emerson. "The American Scholar," "The
Divinity School Address."
(6)
Emerson, continued: "Self—Reliance."
Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience," from Walden,
"Economy" (up to p. 1044), "Where I Lived and what
I Lived For," "Reading," "Spring," and
"Conclusion."
(7)
Thoreau, continued.
Mid-Term Examination: Thursday Oct. 17th
(8)
Edgar Allan Poe, "Sonnet——To Science," "To
Helen,"
"The Conqueror Worm," "The Haunted Palace,"
"The Raven " "Ulalume," ~~Annabel Lee,"
"The Fall of the House of Usher."
(9)
Poe, continued.
"The Purloined Letter," "The Cask of Amontillado,"
"Ligeia," "The Philosophy of Composition."
(10)
Nathaniel Hawthorne.
"Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil,"
"The Birthmark," "Rappaccini' s Daughter," The
Scarlet Letter.
(11)
Hawthorne, continued.
(12)
Herman Melville.
"Hawthorne and His Mosses," "Bartleby the Scrivener,"
Billy Budd. Sailor.
Walt Whitman.
"Preface to the l8!~5 Edition of Leaves of Grass "Song
of Myself," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking,"
"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," "Beat! Beat!
Drums!" "Cavalry Crossing a Ford."
Term Paper Due: Thursday Dec. 5th
(15)
Whitman, continued.
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," "Passage
to India."
FINAL EXAM DURING EXAMINATION WEEK: DEC l6TH-2OTH
INSTRUCTIONS FOR TERM PAPER
DUE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5TH
Length: 10 to 12 pages. typed (double spaced.
(1) Select any three authors from the period covered by this course,
i.e. roughly from the 1630s to the middle of The middle of the century;
(2) write a general historical, ideological, and liter— any
overview for each author, based on the historical chapters in the
textbook, the introductions to the specific authors, and (in case
you find this material insufficient) any necessary secondary sources
(e.g. books or articles from the library); (3) analyze in detail
a specific writing by each author.
This assignment is very flexible. Some students choose three authors
on the basis of a common theme, others simply pick out three authors
that are interesting, etc. The main thing is to go into a bit more
depth in areas that might not have been dealt with sufficiently
in the course, to satisfy curiosity, to luxuriate in the richness
of language, to explore new ideas an'] the literary forms in which
they are embodied, etc. etc.
Note: This is not a library research paper in which you at tempt
to assemble a vast amount of reference material ("secondary
sources"). Use secondary material selectively. The important
thing is the close analysis of the specific texts in their con text.
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